FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Saturday, May 26

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Welcome to the Saturday edition of the FanDuel daily fantasy baseball column. Saturday features a nice eight-game slate of afternoon baseball.

If you ever needed a reminder that anything can happen in baseball, look no further than Max Scherzer struggling with a AAA lineup on Friday night. The Miami Marlins got to him for four runs, and that’s the second time this season Miami has ruined a chalky super ace. They got to Clayton Kershaw earlier this year, as well. It looked like we might pull off the impossible and still make money but got overtaken by teams with Ross Stripling and James Paxton. Let’s dig into the fresh new slate today and keep on rolling!

OAKLAND, CA – APRIL 16: Matt Olson #28 of the Oakland Athletics hits a solo home run in the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on April 16, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Diamondbacks at A’s

Diamondbacks Probable Starter – Clay Buchholz, RHP

*All stats from one start* 1.80 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and 11.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .000 average, .000 wOBA, 0.0 fly ball rate and 0.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .400 average, .666 wOBA, 80.0 fly ball rate and 60.0 hard contact rate

Since Buchholz only has one start under his belt this season, it’s not the smartest thing to put a ton of stock into the splits. In fact, he was worse against lefties during 2016 which was his last elongated major league action. I’m certainly not expecting a repeat performance from Buchholz today and a full A’s stack is perfectly in play. If your’e just looking for a hitter or two, Jed Lowrie and Matt Olson are the lefty hitters you want to look at. Dustin Fowler and Matt Chapman are also solid options at their price point.

A’s Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Jed Lowrie, Matt Olson

Secondary Options – Matt Chapman, Dustin Fowler

A’s Probable Starter – Daniel Mengden, RHP

3.30 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 16.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .200 average, .228 wOBA, 46.1 fly ball rate and 40.7 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .280 average, .339 wOBA, 29.0 fly ball rate and 36.6 hard contact rate

On a different slate, Mengden really wouldn’t be all that attractive because he really lacks any upside. To wit, he’s gotten to the quality start bonus in his last three starts and given up a combined four runs. His high score is 37 points because he doesn’t strike out enough batters. Seeing how Mengden has been relatively productive, the only two batters I have a lot of interest in are Jake Lamb and David Peralta. Both of those hitters rate well against righties but they are on the worse side of Mengden’s splits. Righty bats for the Diamondbacks could include Nick Ahmed or Chris Owings.

Diamondbacks Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Jake Lamb, David Peralta

Secondary Options – Nick Ahmed, Paul Goldschmidt, Chris Owings

Home Run Pick – Jake Lamb